Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1887-03-18
TRAVELS I'm EUROPE.


! pOTls Ol what we were W expect tnut we
were in maze Of uncertainty, and began to
discuss the propriety of making our wills,
and having our lives insured One person
suggested to us to "llve very low" for several
. days before crossing, which, at table d'hote,
| was Impossible; another 10 cover The organs
| likely to be disturbed with a quire of letter
| paper, but that looked too much like snug.
Cling. a third advised the excessive uss of
red pepper, but we were not fire. prsSi, so we
hopelessly resigned ourselves to fate, only
conforming TO common sense princ plcs by
taking a very light breakfast
Leaving London by an early train, we
! had pleasant ride of IS miles in one hour
and iorty.tlve minutes, passing through SOW.
eral attractive places in Kent county, of
which Chatham, noted for its arsenal and
dockyards, and Canterbury, with It's cathe.
dral, Were the chief. Here we parted with
the grand old oaks and elms oil England, lis
beautifully green sward, prolusely sprinkled
with the brilliant red poppy and exchanged
its dark sell for the whitening roads which
told OF eur near approach to the "WhIte
Cliffs of Dover" This is one of the HCnquc
| Ports" and the nearest point to Calais-"so
near, and yet so fart" We had pointed out
to us the ubiquitous castle and the hotel at
| which all the royalty had stopped, who had
| ever l0und II necessary To escape 10 Eng.
land-the Empress Eugene, the recently
expelled Princes, and others Presumng
that other American sovereigns had, by adj
ding their names To the list, sufficiently rep.
resented our country, we passed ON to tbs
boat To most of US this boat was curiosity,
being IN fact two boats, or Il twin boat as
IL is called, connected 10y large raft or
platform, with cabins, roof and awnings,
| where the motion is scarcely felt 1t was II
nd Nf
already ensconsed upon benches under the
awning, prepared TO be i'll comfortably De-
terminlng to fall fighting, II at all, we
wrapped ourselves in our travelling rugs
and kept on deck as long as the wind and
other sensations allowed US, Then chairs
began TO look Inviting, and one after another
| the ladies OF our party were snugly tucked
in and left to await results We found IL
safest to close our eyes and keep still, not
daring 10 turn our heads TO the right nor 10
the left, so there was silence IN our quarter
for one hour and forty-five minutes, broken
only by the drinking Of glass of lemonade
which Frank brought us, and which we took
without moving. Then the boat stopped
and we were at Calais. Nothing had hap
pened-we had only been little uncem.
Portable
The moment we landed we were made
conscious Of being IN Il foreign country.
The language OF the porters, and the little
difference in their dress, awakened us from
our lethargy aud put all our senses on the
alert We proceeded at once TO the depot
where we found several trains, and APP
preaching the guard, Frank politely en-
quired, (which train IS for Brussels" Up
went the mans shoulders, eyebrows and
hands MS though a spring had been touched,
and mutterlng, le ne sals pas, he turned
away Strange that so respectable locking
II man should bo so ignorant Frank spoke
go0d English, spoke it slowly and lsud, and
yet he could not understand We gave him
his own lingo and got satisfaction One of
the comical things of this Whole trip was "
watch Americans trying 10 make foreigners
understand English. Some spenk IL We r-y
SLOWLY, others very loudly, and others
talk bTOk6H English, to make II easier for
them dropping propositions and conjunc-
lions and all supcrlluous words. In all the
hotels there is some one who speaks English,
aud we lound very few places where French
was 40. all sufficient, walters, chambcrmaids,
cOacbmen and the business community gen
orally understand il. In Holland the Ian
| guage seemed 10 US a mixture OF French
and German incomprehensible 10 us.
But ] must not anticipate A pleasant
ride OF few hours brought us 10 the beau.
tilul city of Brussels, the capital Of the little
Kingdom of Belgium. After being the shut
tlccock for France aud Austria for several
centuries, Belgium, as you know, reyolted
and finally settled down TO most prosper.
Gus independent government The present
King, Leopold II, seems very popular, and,
from all we could learn, deseryedly 80. Tn.
fortunately, his son died at ten years Of age,
80 his nephew will be his successor The
al. T. nd
prised 10 learn, one Of the largest cities Ol
Europe, including its suburbs, though with
a comparatively small population, owing 10
the fact that each family lives 10 Itself, and
most OF the houses have gardens attached,
while in Paris and other cities the houses
are built story above story and divided into
flats, each occupied by separate household.
The streets are wide and beautiful, fine
houses of both brick aud stone lining the
sidewalks with fountains and statuary every.
where. There are also several attractive
parks, in some Of which the walks are shaded
by the artistic interlacisg OF the topnost
branches Of the trees, forming continuous
shelter from the sun and rain.
Here we first saw the outdoor cafes and
attended the open air concerts, both Of
which form most attractive features Of Goa
tnental lie.
The lace factories greatly interested us,
and we were delighted 10 find that the enl-
ployes are no longer compelled " work in
damp, dark underground apartments with
| light from above concentrated over each
cushion through long funnelshapea
tube, but such improvements have been
made that all the work Is carried on N
I light, cheerful rooms, and the health et the
lacc-worker is now equal 10 that of any other
artisan leading a seaentary life. / asked one
Of the girls If il hurt her eyes, She replied,
I "NO, not now IL did at first The lace Is
all made ON cushions, with pins and bobbins,
some patterns requiring several days, or in
wide laces weeks to produce single inch.
The Royal Picture Gallery next claimed
OUT attention, aud we reyeed ia the beau
ties Of lleubens, Van Dyck, Paul Ver0nese,
Quintin Metsys and etherc celebrated painters,
enjoying also TIC MODERN school In another
salon The lIelgians will never recover from
the loss of many Of their finest works of art
carried of by the French, aud now exhibited
in the Louvre, iH Paris klany Of those
taken were, however, afterwaSds returned
Many Of the pictures Of the did masters
iIapresent sacred subjects, the Church bs.
iag in those days the principal pSironess
Of sVfi IN almost all Of Reubehf the
faces ~ his two wives are represented
and in nDs bis own figure as well as tllosg
81 MS chHVren appear u ltgubens paln&eh.
all the pictures attributed 70 him which we
saw, he must have lived good deal longer
than tho average man, but here At Brussels,
20 near bis birth Place, we lot That we be-
held the genuine work Of bis hands, II is
marvellous the beauty Of coloring Of these
old world works Of art, when we remember
that the hands which wrought them have
hccn folded in death for nearly three hun.
bred years The fifteenth aud Sixteenth
centuries were rich in consultations Of ar
Listic celebrities. Surely "lrcn sharpeneth
IRON" and the success Of one awoke many
slumberng genius 10 the development of
the talent which might otherwise have re.
manned hidden, unrecegnized even by the
possessor himself There is little romance
connected with the history vi Quntin
Metsys, the blacksmith, which i'm
Impressed Itself upon our memory. Having
won the heart Of the daughter oil an artist,
he applied 10 the father Tor her hand In
marriage, but was refused with the remark
that his child should never wed u black
smith Leaving his occupation, the young
man Immediately Qavc himself up ~ the